October 2011

October 28, 2011

It's been a busy few weeks and I've not been able to make it to all the events myself - so I decided to share the love and sent Melissa Velia off to explore the world of Elizabeth Taylor and the Paper Bag Princess... Enjoy! ~ Kelsi x

About a week ago I was invited to attend a high tea event at the fabulous, The Paper Bag Princess in Beverly Hills. This was no ordinary high tea event; it was a showing of the legendary Elizabeth Taylor’s most prized possessions that are set to be auctioned at Christie in New York on Dec. 13.

As soon as I walked into store owned by Elizabeth Mason, the first three things I noticed were; the amazing couture pieces all around me, I was probably the youngest gal there and last but not least, diamonds everywhere. Ha! That totally rhymed. Anyways, the diamonds all around me were unfortunately not Elizabeth Taylors but belonged to all guest in attendance, from earrings to chunky bangles.

October 27, 2011

Here's a quick outfit pic from fashion week - it was one of the only times I actually got to get dressed up - and it was totally worth it. I went to a party with Anna Wintour. Seriously. That just about never happens in Los Angeles.

Unfortunately I didn't get to see the Queen herself, but I did get to schmooze with my new best friends Erdem, Jonathan Saunders, Mary Katrantzou and Todd Lynn...among others....Ok. So we're not quite best friends - but it was quite the surreal experience introducing friends to these extraordinary designers I spent the week with (more on the LONDON Show ROOMS later...!)

The whole week was quite magical - and ending it poolside supping champagne was the perfect close!

October 26, 2011

When planning our trip to England last month I found myself a little stuck. I wanted to show off London to Mr Style - parts he hadn't seen, not the touristy stuff, the cool local stuff. Not having been a local in London for almost six years I went to internet for help.

Within minutes I'd discovered the Hedonists Guide to London, and promptly introduced myself to folks behind the guides and they invited me to review them. I opted for both London and Los Angeles. The two cities I know best, in the world.

I'm a travel freak in as far as I need to know everything about a city before I visit - I love playing tour guide, so a good guide to essential.

The London guide is aesthetically, incredibly pleasing. Hot pink, embossed, with no glaring "TOURISTS GUIDE TO" and what not - which would be quite frankly embarrassing to pull out in your own city. Being a girl who's stylishly inclined I was already sold.

Fast forward to the contents. Every trip to London with Mr Style thus far had focused on West and Central London - being that was the area I lived in. However in the past decade, East London has grown in to an excellent area of London (ah gentrification) - as with most East sides in major metropolitan cities. In a parallel fashion, I have also grown into a person that would enjoy the East side of a major metropolitan city, so naturally this trips focus was on East London.

Thanks to the Hedonist Guide to London we secured an uber cool and affordable hotel in The Hoxton (my review is here). I also discovered new and fun places to eat and drink (Uh, Callooh Callay, Shoreditch anyone?) and felt like a local in no time, so by the time we actually arrived in London - I was taking my local friends to the cool places. I'm that girl.

I can't wait to go back to London in February (for more than 48 hours) and use up the whole of the guide.

The Los Angeles guide is a little more conservative in appearance (go figure) it's sleek, black, but still subtle in appearance - so even though I've lived here for years and my accent betrays my residence, I can play tourist without looking like one.

I can't imagine how difficult it is to create a guide to Los Angeles, it's a sprawling mass of mini cities, each with their own distinct identity (much like London) except the business turnaround here is pretty rapid. I've lost count of what the last cool place to dance was - and the likelihood is, it's the same cool place to dance it was ten years ago - it's just changed names 10 times.

Despite all of this The Hedonist Guide to Los Angeles does a really good job of covering Los Angeles - even the parts I was honestly ready to criticise them for not covering (being the kind of Los Angelian that doesn't go west of Los Feliz and east of Venice...) the East side was well covered - still maybe not as covered as I would have it - but still it was there.

My Los Angeles classic favourites like Dominicks and The Dresden Rooms were there, but many were notably missing - I found the Snack section more appropriate for dining than the restaurant section and was impressed to see it included Portos and In n Out Burger (Los Angeles classics!).

Really notably missing was an extensive guide to downtown - it's such a diverse part of our city, the flower markets and the fashion district were both missing. Also our extensive vintage selections were largely skipped over.

In both guides, London and Los Angeles, I did feel like the shopping sections were fairly weak - but I'm a fashion blogger and a shopping obsessive - so it's likely most guides, unless entirely devoted to shopping, wouldn't satiate my needs!

Overall the Hedonists Guides are some of the best travel guides I've come across in years of extensive travel. Affordable (under $20) compact, good looking, lightweight and diverse in content. They also offer extensive online guides (now completely free), a fancy iPhone app and the guides are available in over 50 countries.

A few weeks ago a chauffeur driven Prius showed up at my humble abode to whisk me away to somewhere far less humble. An ocean view mansion in Malibu, complete with stunning infinity pool, champagne, massages, a live perfomance from Jacob Luttrel, good friends, Paul Walker, oh and Davidoff Cool Water.

It was a fairly surreal experience and a well needed relaxing afternoon. Above is our group interview with Paul Walker - I had every intention of editing it down, but honestly, he's such a fantastic story teller, from how he started acting, to his Natural Geographic series chasing Great White Sharks to his experiences with his charity in Haiti and Chile. It's well worth watching for the full twenty minutes (even though I'm well aware that goes a million miles over the internet video timing rules..) if just for his fantastic Anderson Cooper impression at the end.

Below are some photos from the whole experince. Thanks so much Davidoff Cool Water for the wonderful experience - Mr Style is now enjoying his giant bottle of Davidoff Cool Water!

Poolside Massages

The theme for the day was water - from all over the world - an impressive display!

October 25, 2011

As part of the Concept Fashion Week crew - I had arranged for our five official bloggers to get a complimentary night's stay at the newest hotel in town, The Hotel Wilshire. Of course, I couldn't let them have all the fun, so I dragged Mr Style away from Glendale for the night to join them.

The Hotel Wilshire, on, you guessed it, Wilshire Blvd (and Crescent Heights) was mere blocks away from all the Concept Fashion Week festivities, making it the perfect home away from home for us runway weary bloggers.

Situated in the middle of Wilshire Blvd, close to all the museums (LACMA, Petersen Auto, La Brea Tar Pits, countless galleries and my favourite the Craft and Folk Museum) it makes it the perfect hotel for out of towners looking to get the most cultural experience from Los Angeles. Plus, the Wilshire location and speedy transit options makes downtown Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and even Santa Monica, easily accessible.

The hotel itself is modern and whimsical in design - clean lines and modern furniture with pops of yellow and interesting art. I really loved the photograph in my room.

We were situated on the 6th Floor and I wouldn't recommend this floor to families or those looking for restful nights. The rooftop elevator lets out here and drunken groups were heard past closing time (it was a Saturday night) and closing time was 1am.

The room itself was both spacious and cosy. The shower featured a rainfall shower head, a cozy robe and Lather (one of my favourite lines) products. Our room featured a king size, and ridiculous comfy bed, a desk, a closet and mini fridge (though the fridge did not seem to work) and a flat screen TV (with USB port - this is exciting for us digital aficionados)

Also perfect for us bloggers was the access to free WiFi - why doesn't every hotel do this? Drives me nuts!

The hotel rooftop boasts an extraordinary view of Los Angeles and was absolutely packed - not a table to be had - believe me we tried! We supped on beer (they had some pretty decent craft beer offerings) and prosecco that wasn't outrageously priced. We also snacked on their roast fingerling potatoes - the portion was a wee bit stingy - but they were delicious.

The rooftop also has a lovely pool, and during the day become a much more serene haven.

Over all I highly recommend (and have been recommending) The Hotel Wilshire - not only for out of towners, but those seeking a staycation or an evening on a very happening rooftop.